This invention relates generally to forming nitride waveguides.
Nitride waveguides may be utilized to communicate information in the form of light signals between a transmitter and a receiver. For example, two integrated circuits on the same circuit board may be coupled through a nitride waveguide to communicate with one another.
The existing nitride waveguides have suffered diminution of intensity due to the irregular configuration of the nitride waveguide. The irregular configuration of the nitride waveguide and, primarily, its sidewalls is largely due to the techniques used to form the waveguide. Conventional etching techniques result in a fairly rough exterior surface of the resulting nitride waveguide.
The effect of the rough exterior surface of the nitride waveguide is to cause losses in the course of transmitting light information through the waveguide. As light propagates along existing waveguides, light is scattered and refracted out of the waveguide, diminishing the intensity of the light that exits the waveguide.
Thus, there is a need for ways to reduce the loss of light intensity as light propagates through nitride waveguides.